The Jeff Beckham Weblog

I just posted a story about BarCamp Austin III over on Austinist.
BarCamp is more accurately called an “unconference”: Every part of the gathering, from the schedule to the content to the communications, is worked out by the participants. Rather than passively receiving information like at traditional conferences, people at BarCamp are asked to actively participate, [...]

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The Statesman’s entertainment site, Austin360.com, won a Newspaper Association of America Digital Edge Award for Best Local Guide or Entertainment Site in its circulation category.
The Digital Edge Awards categories, part of the Media Innovation Awards, drew more than 200 entries from U.S. newspapers of all sizes. The volunteer team of judges, who are all [...]

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The recent launch of local journalism site EveryBlock tries to answer a question that doesn’t always have an easy response: “What’s happening in my neighborhood?”
Beginning with Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco, EveryBlock pulls together local news and public information, then allows you to narrow the focus to your particular neighborhood of interest. You [...]

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When it comes to the right way for local media to embrace the online world, I’ve been tempted for some time just to link to Rob Curley and add “What he said”.
My man just hit it out of the park again, this time with a piece in Harvard’s Nieman Reports that lays the the strategies [...]

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One of my favorite bloggers (and a darn nice person, to boot) is Chuck Kuffner. His Off the Kuff blog provides a steady stream of Houston news and commentary, as well as a look at statewide political races.
This month, Chuck was honored as one of Texas Monthly’s 35 People Who Will Shape Our Future. It’s [...]

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Rafat Ali of paidContent is reporting that Austin social media company Pluck is up for sale for a target price of around $75 million.
Pluck has powered social media and blog syndication technology for top newspaper firms, including the Austin American-Statesman, and was a major driver behind last year’s redesign of the USA Today site.
PaidContent [...]

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This is one of the more charming pictures I’ve seen recently: Kanye West celebrating a rare Connect Four victory over Beyonce.
Actually, Kanye’s blog is entertaining overall, probably the best celebrity blog next to The Office’s Mindy Kaling.

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The accidental innovator: The Economist profiles Evan Williams, the founder of both Blogger and Twitter. (The Economist)
Riddell starts shipping concussion-monitoring football helmets: Each helmet stores data about the last 100 impacts, which can later be wirelessly transmitted to a laptop for analysis. The University of Missouri and several other NCAA schools have already placed orders. [...]

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I got word a couple of weeks ago that one of my panel suggestions was accepted for the 2008 South by Southwest Interactive Festival.
The session, “How Accessible Should Your Site Be?”, won’t be in a panel format, however, but will instead be a part of the new Core Conversations program at the event. Here’s how [...]

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The AP looks at how newspapers are using widgets — small, stand-alone programs people can place on their own web pages or desktops — to “draw in new readers and to boost their brands throughout the Internet.”
In a way, it’s an extension of news feeds and another example that a person doesn’t have to come [...]

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